Judith Kaye

(1938-)

Judge Judith S. Kaye was born in Monticello, New
York on August 4, 1938. In 1958, she received her B.A. from Barnard College.
Kaye then attended New York University Law School where she received
her law degree in 1962. From 1969 to 1983, she worked in the law firm
of Olwine, Connelly, Chase, O’Donnell and Weyer. She became the
firm’s first female partner.

In 1983, she was appointed
by Governor Mario Cuomo to the New York
State Court of Appeals, the first woman to
serve. She would shortly become the Chief
Justice of the Court of Appeals.

Kaye served as the Chief Judge of the State of New
York; appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo on February 22, 1993, confirmed
by the State Senate on March 17, and sworn in on March 23. Kaye was
the first woman to hold this rank in the State Judiciary’s highest
office. In December 2008 she retired.

Judge Kaye and her husband, Stephen Rackow Kaye, are
members of Congregation Shearith Israel.